Ghostly Wiles
by Itoma
Summary: She was like a ghost. A ghost only he could touch, smell, and savor.


A/N: Alrighty in an effort to get myself out of my writer's slump I manage to finish this little number that had been sitting in my google docs folder for nearly a year. This is only the first part of a potential two or three shot I kind of sort of don't really have planned out. But it's something.

As for those of you who read Life's Little Curve Balls. That story is on hold for the moment... I'm trying to get my self on an Avenger's binge again. Just started watching the new Avenger's Assemble (let's call it an Amerime because Cartoon just doesn't do it justice). And it looks promising. =3 Also don't worry after all the votes option A is set in stone... with a few minor alterations. She'll be bringing Souta along with her back to the States. So there's that little tidbit of info for you all to chew on. But anyways I hope you all enjoy this. =3

* * *

High above the clouds of New York, atop the skyscraper that was Xanatos Enterprises, sat the ancient Castle Wyvern, home to the Manhattan Clan of Gargoyles. Atop its many towers sat a single statue of a gargoyle, hunched over in contemplation. His large stone wings spread out behind him, his chin resting upon his knuckles as he silently surveyed the city below.

Then.. as the sun began to set, the cracking of stone could be heard, the sound filling the air as the gargoyle and his brethren woke from their slumber. A deep guttural roar resounded through the sky, as fragments of stone flew everywhere.

Goliath flexed his claws and rolled his shoulders, causing the last bits of stone to fall from his back and wings. Time for another night spent in Xanatos' Library, the nights were peaceful now, since the Gargoyles had earned their right to live among the humans they had nothing to fear of the quarry men. The Clan had even been given sanction to operate in the city, protecting the innocent and what not so long as they made sure to follow proper procedure when handling criminals.

Tonight happened to be the trio's turn to run surveillance over the city, alongside his daughter Angela. Which gave Goliath, Hudson, and Bronx the run of the castle. Hopping down from his perch, Goliath huffed as he watched the Trio and Angela take off into the night sky. They seemed eager to begin their rounds... then again the young were always restless, they enjoyed the thrill of a good fight now and then.

Stretching his large wings he lept from the top of the tower as well, gliding down to the court yard so he could make his way to the library. Owen was there to greet him, the man with a stone fist, the guise of Puck, always wore an expression to match his cursed hand, the man was also a stark contrast to the the child of Oberon.

"Goliath... is there anything I can help you with?" the "human" inquired, pushing a small stroller, which held David Xanatos' only son, Alexander. One of Owen's many duties was to instruct the child in the ways of his magical heritage, and being the grandson of Titania herself made it a requirement, the child had quite a bit of magic at his disposal.

"No, Owen.. I was simply seeing myself to the library," Goliath stated, stepping aside so Owen and the stroller to could make their way through the courtyard, Owen throwing a casual "very well" over his shoulder as they rolled on by.

Goliath gave a soft sigh, life was so peaceful nowadays, even Owen... err Puck, spoke to him casually now.

Stretching out his wings one last time he wrapped them around himself in a cloak like fashion, so he could easily walk through the doorway, into the room which held Xanatos' collection of magical artifacts.

The Room was filled with many artifacts that Goliath himself was more aware of then he'd like to be, several of them could prove to be very dangerous in the wrong hands, others just held memories of an adventure he had had with with the fiery woman known as Elisa Maza.

He felt his chest clench in pain at the thought of her. He had come to love the human woman after all the time they had spent together, after all the evils they had faced. But he refused her, their species were far too different, she would have become an outcast from society if anyone had discovered their relationship... and though they were still friends. It pained him to know she was with another.

Matt was good for her, a bit of a crazy conspiracy theorist, but he was good to her. The man genuinely cared and loved her.

But it wasn't until Elisa had shown him the diamond engagement ring that Goliath had learned he was a fool to deny his feelings for her. He should have kept her and loved her, but he had been too cautious of what others would think of a gargoyle and human relationship.

And now he was more or less doomed to be alone, forever. His first love, Demona, had betrayed him long ago, before they had been cursed, and now Elisa was soon to be wed. Any chance he had of finding another to be with were slim to none. The only female gargoyle of their clan was his flesh and blood daughter, and few humans understood his kind, much less so human females.

He sighed as he stopped before the door to the library, his gaze resting on the floor, willing his mind to go blank of any and all thoughts regarding Elisa. As he reached for the large elegant door handle something caught his eye. A light pink glimmer.

Turning he spied a small pink jewel resting on an ornate silver stand in a glass case.

He had never seen the jewel before, it must be something new to David's collection. Pulling his hand back from the door he made his way to the jewel. It seemed to have an ethereal mist floating about it. His nostrils flared, he could practically smell the magic pouring off the artifact.

Witchcraft and Sorcery always made him uneasy. It could do so much good.. and so much evil with but the flick of a wrist and simple chant. Such power was one of the few things he couldn't fight head on.

At first he was going to brush it off, before a small spark of light shown from the center of the small jewel.

Goliath leaned in closer, opening the glass case to bring up a clawed digit to lightly tap the jewel, when nothing happened he narrowed his eyes on it, looking deep into the depths of the jewel.

"_HELP ME! GET ME OUT OF HERE!_" A feminine voice screamed through his mind, causing him to rear back suddenly.

He growled lowly at the jewel, his eyes glowing a soft white, before he snagged the gem from its case. He had some questions for David Xanatos.

* * *

"Xanatos... what is this jewel," Goliath rumbled as he stepped into the large office, belonging to the multi-billionaire, and placing the jewel on the desk.

David eyed the pink object before raising his brow at Goliath, it wasn't like the clan leader of the Gargoyles to barge into his office over something so mundane.

"It's referred to as the Shikon no Tama, the Jewel of Four Souls, in Japan, I acquired it on my most recent business trip. Owen had informed me of its existence, It supposedly houses an abundance of magical energy," He stated calmly, closing the book he had been reading and placing it on his desk. "Now why did you bring it here?"

Goliath scowled. "There is more to this jewel then what you say, when I drew close to it I heard a voice, a woman screaming to be free'd."

It was David's turn to frown as he looked to the "innocent" pink gem laying on his desk.

"Well there is a legend that goes along with it, According to the priest I had secured it from it holds the soul of a powerful miko, or priestess if you prefer, who is constantly fighting with the soul of a demon inside the jewel. Apparently the jewel has a cycle to it," David plucked the jewel from its place on the desk and looked more closely at it, "it is supposed to be reborn in the possession of a priestess every few hundred years or so, and that priestess is supposed to make a wish upon the jewel so it can devour her. So she can continue the fight inside it."

"That is... horrible," Goliath spoke, that voice he had heard, it was that of an innocent woman caught in the cycle of a malevolent jewel, "Is there a way to break the cycle? Perhaps free the priestess trapped inside?"

"According to Owen, there isn't. Anyone who makes a wish on the jewel is consumed, from what he can tell, and destroying it would simply scatter its power to the world. Which would be catastrophic, seeing as even a simple sliver of this jewel would hold enough power to level a city."

Goliath glared at the vile object. It irritated him to no end to know that another was suffering and there was nothing he could do about it.

"We must find a way to free her..."

* * *

Kagome raced through the darkness, throwing sutra's over her shoulder to halt the demon's advance. She had no idea how long she had been fighting, but it was wearing her down. Why had Inuyasha betrayed her? Why was becoming a full-demon so important?! Why did she have to spend eternity fighting Naraku in this god forsaken jewel?

"You can't run... you can't hide... I'll always find you."

Naraku's voice resounded through the darkness, she shivered in response, a chill running up her spine. It didn't matter how many times she'd heard him say it before... it still creeped her out to hear his voice.

"You'll never catch me though... you'll never be able to touch me," She spat out, looking around frantically, the demon from before was gone, leaving her completely alone in the darkness. Calling upon the light of the jewel she surrounded herself with it. Her nerves were shot at this point, if she didn't get out soon she was going to completely lose it.

A tentacle shot out from the darkness, and thought it managed to wrap around her ankle, a split second later it was reduced to ash.

Kagome fought the urge to scream, every time he made progress against her, that he managed to touch her even momentarily was a testament to the fact.

"Somebody get me out of here!" She yelled again.

* * *

Goliath gripped his forehead as another shout rippled through his mind.

"Did you hear that Xanatos?"

David's brow raised again at the question, he hadn't heard a thing.

"Goliath? What did you hear this time," he inquired.

"Another cry for help. Can only I hear her?" Goliath grumbled, his head actually hurt from the amount of fear that filled her voice.

"Hmm... I'll contact Owen," David stated as he pulled his cell from his pocket and quickly dialed his manservant's number, when the other answered he quickly instructed Owen that he required his assistance, the magical kind.

Then in a flurry of green light Puck appeared with young Alexander in hand, the small infant floating in the air next to him.

"What can I assist you with, Mr. Xanatos," Puck asked lightly, twirling his finger causing the young babe to spin through the air, giggling with delight.

"We need to find a way to get the woman trapped in this jewel out," David glared as he walked around his desk and grabbed his son out of the air, it perturbed him to see Alexander defying the laws of physics so easily, "And why is it only Goliath can hear her?"

Puck frowned as the child was taken from him before turning his attention to the tall lavender skinned gargoyle.

"The reason only Goliath can hear her is because their souls have something in common, it's painfully apparent really, I can practically taste it in the air," Puck spoke lightly, using his magic to float in the air, leaning back with his hands behind his head as if he was reclining upon a chair.

"Out with it then Puck, that which is so readily apparent to a Child of Oberon is normally lost upon others," Goliath growled, another frightened shriek filled his mind.

"Betrayal, you both have experience betrayal from one you loved, but she seems to be filled to the brim with pain over the fact, I wonder how many times she has experienced such a thing," The fey child wondered idly, scratching his chin in thought.

Goliath's eyes narrowed upon the jewel, a low growl rising in his chest, "How can we get her out, Puck?"

The trickster rolled through the air in thought, paying little attention to the others in the room as he mulled over the problem laid before him.

"Perhaps.. I could use that common thread the two of you bare, it might be enough to pull her soul from this pretty little gem," Puck explained, popping from one place to another so he hovered over David's shoulder, to look down at the pink gem his employer held. "There will be side effects as well, so you know, and there is no way for me to know what they could be. Playing with souls is a tricky matter."

Goliath growled low in his chest again, she wasn't screaming but he could feel the fear radiating from the jewel, "Cease your prattling and get to work Puck, my patients is wearing thin."

Puck frowned in response before snatching the jewel from David's grasp, "Very well then, just remember I warned you."

Magic began to crackle through the air of the room, the light of the jewel shimmered ominously as Puck's sourcery began to swirl around it in green wisps of mist.

"Unfortunate Souls, knowing only of pain. Be tied to one another, cause your woes to wane. From this Jewel I release you now, upon this gargoyle, your soul, I endow."

Green and pink clashed in vibrant sparks of light, electricity arcing through the room suddenly before striking Goliath's chest. Knocking the large Gargoyle off his feet, his head hitting the floor rather hard, enough to send him into unconsciousness.

"Goliath!" David called out, holding Alexander to his chest as he raced to the gargoyle's side, Puck floating about lazily as if nothing had happened. "Is he okay?"

"Him? Yeah he'll be fine.. I wonder how she's going to feel about this though," Puck spoke, indicating the outline of a woman rising from Goliath's chest, she seemed unconscious as well as she lay against Goliath's lavender skinned chest. She held no color to her ghostly form, she appeared as if she had been pulled straight from a black and white movie.

"Is she... a ghost?"

"In a way yes... I lack the power to give her a physical body, that's something more along the line of Oberon's caliber, but she is free of the jewel and its torment. The only way to get her out though was to anchor her to Goliath and tying two souls together is something that's more or less permanent," Puck explained.

"So Goliath is going to have a permanent.. "house guest"?"

"Yes siree..."

* * *

Goliath groaned as he regained consciousness, he felt something resting against his chest, it was warm, like a body, and soft and curvy like that of a woman's. But it had no weight to it. Opening his eyes he looked down to see a mass of black hair resting against his chest, pale white hands peeking out of long bell like sleeves clenched against his chest.

He arched his neck to look up over the woman currently resting against his chest, every aspect of her form was black and white, with shades of grey in between. He also noticed that her womanly form ended just below her bottom, her legs had been replaced by a ghostly mist.

Something told him this was the woman from the jewel.

He heard a soft mewl of discomfort as the near weightless woman upon his chest stirred, her hands coming up to rub her eyes as she sat up in his lap. Goliath simply laid still, watching her silently. She was truly a beauty, her long black hair tumbled over her shoulders, and when she opened her eyes he was greeted with a vision of deep blue irises. The only part of her that held any color where her deep ocean blue eyes.

She blinked at him, slowly placing her hand upon his chest to make sure he was real. When she lightly pinched the flesh of his pectoral he grumbled in response, causing her to pull back.

"Where... am I?" Her voice held a slight echo to it, sounding like a soft soothing bell to his ears, he slowly sat himself up.

She floated just above his lap, looking up at him with eyes filled with curiosity.

"You are in my home Castle Wyvern... we saved you, pulled you from this jewel" Goliath spoke, opening his palm to reveal a small black gem. The once pristine pink coloration was now dark and foreboding.

The woman shied away from the jewel, but offered Goliath a small smile, "Thank you. So very much. It was getting... uncomfortable in there."

Goliath looked from her to the jewel. He could practically feel her barely contained terror racking his spine. Thinking it best to remove the magical artifact from her presence, he tossed it to Xanatos who stood on the side with Puck, the child of Oberon having already returned to his human persona.

He remained upon the floor, allowing her to maintain her position in his lap. Her ghostly form was... unsettling. He flexed his clawed hands unsure if he could actually touch her despite knowing he had felt her dainty hands pinch his flesh earlier.

As if sensing his unease, She floated off his lap, her misty lower half coalescing into a pair of shapely legs. With her removed from her person he came to a stand before her. "I am, Goliath, may I ask who you are?"

She smiled sheepishly at him, tucking a ghostly lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm Kagome."


End file.
